Burton Buggy Club Visit

Once again the BRCA Public Relations officer is on the road to visit a club from my past when I first started racing and a welcomed invitation to see what the club is doing now after all these years.

Having not picked my GT12 for some time . it was nice to Get "Violet" out for a run and see how she faired, as we know things move quickly in our sport with performance and new prodcuts to continuly improve and GT12 is no exception. The club are very freindly and some faces to the banter with as ever. The track layout and running of the meeting was great, good track markings and room to pit made for a great evenings racing. I did however litrutly charge my cells and put Violet on the track and we were off. The track was fasr and flowing and once back in the groove it was great fun. With three rounds and a final for everyone it made value for the evening and well run meeting, and to finish the evening off the club made their trophy prensenation which was great to see.

Many thanks by the club for the invitation and I shall be back, so if your in the area and fancy some good fun club racing then pop along and pay them a visit. Some club history for you on the club and how they have progressed over the years.

The Club was founded around 1988 and as its name suggests the Club initially raced 1/10th scale electric buggy’s indoors on carpet inside St Johns Church Hall, Horninglow, Burton on Trent. The track being marked out using fire hoses filled with sand.

It quickly proved to be very popular with the hall being full to capacity on most Wednesday evenings.

A computer, printer and a DD electronic lap counting system soon replaced the initial manual counting and results.

A full calendar of events including monthly trophy meetings provided plenty of competition for the members.

In addition to the regular weekday club nights, weekend events both indoors and outdoors mainly on grass were held at various Schools, Colleges and Scouts facilities. During 1994 there was a six round inter-club challenge with Ashby Woulds Model Car Club.

A new AMB 20 lap counting system complete with handout transponders was purchased in 1997 to replace the previous DD system which was becoming unreliable.

In January 2000 the Club moved to a new venue at Drakelow Power Station Sports and Social Club. This provided a larger track area and better facilities for storage and pitting. The sand filled hosepipe track markers were replaced with white upvc drain piping.

The Buggy Club website was created during 2001 and kept up to date with news, events, results and photographs.

In February 2002 new PRIMA GT track carpet was purchased.

Over the years there was a change towards racing 1/10th scale saloons rather than buggy’s, racing was now predominantly 1/10th scale saloons, both modified and stock classes.

With the closure of Drakelow Power Station in 2003 the club moved to the William Allitt School, Newhall in August that year whilst continuing to search for a more permanent venue.

Burton Hospital Club became available and the club moved there during October 2003. A slightly smaller venue but the facilities were excellent including the availability of food and drink from the bar.

Fate soon struck again as due to redevelopment, the Hospital Club building was closed and demolished resulting in the Buggy Club having to vacate it in September 2004.

Woodville working men’s club (Woodville Box Club) agreed that the club could move there. It was in an upstairs room so access was a little restricted. The track area was an “L” shape and smaller than previous, so 1/12th scale mardave cars gradually became the most popular class although the 1/10th scale saloons continued to be raced.

Due to changing circumstances at Woodville during May 2006 the club had to relocate once more and as an interim measure moved to Forest Road Scout Hut, Burton on Trent. This was a small building but it kept the club going during the most difficult period in the club’s history to date with the numbers of drivers racing dropping dramatically to single figures on some weeks.

After much research another venue was eventually found, the Memorial Club at Church Gresley and the move was made to there in July 2006.

The venue was excellent with food and drink also available. Racing numbers soon increased again and in 2008 the lap counting system was upgraded to AMBrc.

The Club was Affiliated to the BRCA during 2010.

During the time at the memorial club the 1/12th mardave and 1/10th saloons were the predominant classes, but 1/10th Buggy’s, 1/12th Pan cars and 1/12th mardave Bangers were all raced at times.

After four great years at the Memorial Club it closed with little prior notice in September 2010. All the club’s equipment was moved to temporary storage.

Fortunately, a new venue for the club was eventually found at Stanton Village Hall in November 2010. It was a much smaller building, the track area being only three carpets wide but the facilities were good. The track size suited the 1/12th scale mardave V12 cars and these proved very popular, being raced exclusively.

An opportunity arose to move to the present venue at Gresley Old Hall, the first race night there was held there in March 2012. The facilities are excellent including a car park, larger track area, plenty of room for pitting with food and drink also being available

As the 1/12th scale mardave V12 racing had proved to be so successful at Stanton it was decided to continue racing with the single class of cars.

In January 2014 the club also started racing GT12 class in addition to the club mardave V12 class.

During 2016/17 the carpet was replaced with Lindau, now being a full six carpets wide. The track markers were renewed with white upvc down piping and new corners of various angles were manufactured. This produced an excellent track requiring very little maintenance during an evening’s racing.

The continuing policy of racing 1/12th scale only allows the track layout to be designed accordingly for these cars.

The main class raced now is GT12 to BRCA “Supercup” rules, which is extremely popular and very competitive.

The club mardave V12 class to the buggy club rules is also raced and is ideal in particular for newcomers to the sport due to both its low initial and running costs.

Occasionally a heat for LMP cars is run but only if there are a minimum of four cars and drivers.

There were 56 members of the club during 2017and an extensive calendar of events is planned for 2018.

These include ordinary club nights, spring, summer and winter leagues, an annual super league, four team events and three trophy meetings.

The club’s website www.burtonbuggyclub.co.uk together with its Facebook page “Burton Buggy Club - GT12 Racing” are regularly updated each week with results and news.

The Club meets every Tuesday evening at Gresley Old Hall, booking in by 6-45pm with racing starting at 7-00pm.

There are usually three heats and a final.

New members are always made welcome into a friendly club atmosphere with experienced members happy to give advice and assistance.

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What is BRCA?

Essentially we race radio-controlled model racing cars, trucks and bikes, however this isn’t as simple a statement as it might seem! There are over 13 different classes ranging from small electric powered ones that do about 30mph through to cars powered by 3.5cc internal combustion engines that do over 80mph and even those with 23cc petrol engines. The racing caters for people from all backgrounds and doesn’t discriminate on sex, age, or disability. Radio-controlled model motor racing does provide a challenging sporting environment where the skill required to drive and build the cars can be tested against other likeminded competitors.

Download our 2016 Handbook or Have a Go racing Booklet to find out more

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What do we do? What is BRCA? Who are we? Essentially we race radio-controlled model racing cars, trucks and bikes, however this isn’t as simple a statement as it might seem! There are over 13 different classes ranging from small electric powered ones that do about 30mph through to cars powered by 3.5cc internal combustion engines that do over 80mph and even those with 23cc petrol engines. The racing caters for people from all backgrounds and doesn’t discriminate on sex, age, or disability. Radio-controlled model motor racing does provide a challenging sporting environment where the skill required to drive and build the cars can be tested against other likeminded competitors.

Download our 2016 Handbook or Have a Go racing Booklet to find out more

The four objects that define The British Radio Car Association. (a) To promote the construction and racing of radio-controlled cars. (b) To facilitate the exchange of information and ideas relating to the sport. (c) To set rules and standards for construction and racing. (d) To encourage National and International competition within a co-ordinated calendar.